Welcome to Pixels in Praxis, the Can't Stop the Movies section devoted to discussing and reviewing video games. Previously the section was known as Why Video Games and focused closely on the relationship between the player, the avatar they control, and the effect the avatar has on the mechanics of the game world. While I've loved the writing produced, in the long run the questions and constraints we placed on our perspective limited the way we could talk about games.

With that in mind...

Why praxis?

As Seth, and I discussed different ideas on what to do with Can't Stop the Movies' video game writing, we kept returning to the idea that great video games allow for continued learning as the game goes on. Certain mechanics may take on new meaning when placed in different storytelling contexts, and when reproduced in other video games may cause different emotions.

We decided to focus on praxis as it's a way to critically analyze what video games are doing while keeping our language in the realm of the practical. I'm not saying you won't read terms like "ludonarrative dissonance" in our pieces moving forward, but we want to keep critical writing accessible while pushing toward deeper understanding of our relationship with video games.

This also frees writing space up for proper video game critiques similar to the Can't Stop the Movies review system. As Can't Stop the Movies is a website for cinema critiques first, the video game reviews will not be as often. But we hope to produced at least one in-depth conversation and a handful of video game reviews each month.

Pixels in Praxis spoiler policy

It's borderline impossible to have a meaningful discussion about video games without contemplating how video games tell their story. That means digging into the mechanics and how they evolve alongside progress with each game.

PUT SIMPLY - ALL VIDEO GAME WRITING MAY CONTAIN MASSIVE SPOILERS

Movies only take about two to three hours at most to watch, and TV shows less than that for multiple episodes. Video games can take upwards of double-digit into triple-digit hours to complete. Considering the time investment needed, we don't want anyone to spoil themselves on our writing, so please take this into consideration if you decide to continue with a Pixels in Praxis piece.

Review scale

You will not see stars or numbers to quantify how good a video game is in a Pixels in Praxis piece. Instead, video game reviews will feature the rating system used for movies with a simple "Like", "Indifference," or "Dislike."